Synopsis[]
All is chaos in Rally as the town boar charge down the hill toward the crowd that had gathered to watch Guard and Big Paul wrestle, The Minehead Boys charge into a fight over what they consider to be dishonorable conduct in the wrestling match, and the sudden vanishing of the crimson-clad monk leaves unanswered questions.
Barreling down the hill, the boar collide with the Rally townsfolk, and Guard tries to dissuade the Minehead Boys from attacking him until the boar situation is in hand - but they are disinclined to put aside their grievance, and to make matters worse, Guard trips on a rock as he moves to assist the townsfolk with the rowdy boar. Isaac tries to help Big Paul and sends Sherwood to retrieve Oz, while June notices orange sandal prints headed for the front gate and bolts after the mysterious interloper.
Guard, having found no success with persuasion, tries to intimidate the Minehead Boys into standing down, but not all of them take his threat of slicing them in half seriously - and one of them crumples to the ground bleeding as Guard makes good on his threat and cleaves into the man with his axe before continuing toward the foray with the boar.
In the middle of the fray, Isaac has a momentary flashback to a beheading he once performed as he pops Big Paul's kneecap back into place - not with mundane medicine, but by tapping into something more powerful. His primary objective completed, he looks up just in time to see one of the Minehead Boys bleeding out on the ground, a trail of blood linking the fallen man and Guard. He calls out for Guard to stand down, but having also realized that June is missing, can spare no more attention for the situation at hand.
Harisa, having scrambled onto the roof of the general store, slows the advance of several of the Minehead Boys toward Guard with a few well-placed arrows to give them pause, and the townsfolk finally manage to subdue all the boar save for two that had veered off into town. Sherwood returns with Oz in tow, and literally trips over the man bleeding out on the ground - upon whom Oz promptly initiates field surgery in an effort to preserve his life.
Isaac spots June as she scampers up a tree to seek a better vantage point on the slippery monk, and having verified her well-being, returns to the scene of the battle. When Oz tells him to get out of their light unless he can perform a miracle, he decides to try his luck again, but it seems that Isaac's mysterious healing prowess is not always at his beck and call. Fortunately, Oz seems to be making do with mundane means, having pulled their patient from the brink, while the rest of the townsfolk have managed to subdue the boar that were sowing mayhem among the crowd.
Guard has a tense moment with the Minehead Boys still hot on his trail, as he is charged by - and fully catches - one of the missing boar that bursts out the front door of the general store. Between Guard halting his onslaught and Sherwood calling for his boys to stand down, the fight comes to an uneasy end.
Meanwhile, June has made considerable progress toward the gate, and from her high perch she spots something unbelievable. She watches as a muscular, red-robed, sandal-clad figure with coarse brown hair pushes open the gate, muscles bulging with supernatural, bestial strength - a feat that among the townsfolk, only Guard can accomplish unaided. The figure passes through the gate, and a gust of wind whips through the valley and slams it shut behind him. She bolts down the tree and toward the gate, still hoping to catch the mysterious figure, and realizes that the sandal-prints in orange paint appear only every 30 feet or so, taking a few steps and then disappearing again.
In the wake of the battle, Harisa shoots a hole into the general store warehouse roof in an effort to find the last missing boar, and sees it stumbling through the building in a screaming panic, its head stuck in a crate. It tumbles as it bashes through the door, the crate bashing against the ground, spilling several stone balls with waxed fuses onto the hill. They tumble downhill over the rocks, sparking dangerously each time they bounce - unluckily, this particular crate contained black powder bombs. These bombs begin to roll down the hill, some on potentially disastrous trajectories - one one headed toward the pigsty, another toward the refinery (where the bellows are housed), and three on a collision course with a cluster of people and boar, including Oz and his patient.
Guard turns his attention to the bombs rolling toward the crowd, scooping up one of the three and hurling it away into a safe corner while Isaac leverages a picnic table to provide the crowd cover from the two that escape Guard. Harisa leaps onto the back of Karl, the boar recently liberated from the crate, and rides toward the refinery-bound bomb, using her bow to knock it past the refinery and into the creek beyond in an impressive display of high-stakes polo skills.
The two bombs headed for the crowd collide with Isaac's picnic table, but blessedly do not ignite. The bomb headed toward the empty pigsty does light, exploding within and igniting the building, but with universal focus on a single crisis, the town is able to douse the fire with relatively minimal damage.
June, having been consumed with chasing the intruder, hears the explosion just as she reaches the gate and reverses her course back into town.
Immediate crises resolved, everyone reconvenes and shares what they've experienced. The mangled Minehead Boy is carried into Oz's quarters for recovery, not yet conscious but also not dead. Big Paul limps in, leaning on a stick he's using as a makeshift crutch, and has a quiet word with Sherwood, implicating Harisa in his poor showing in the wrestling match.
Sherwood and Isaac talk through the circumstances of the fight, Sherwood admitting that the violence visited upon his men when they attacked Guard was not undeserved, and taking responsibility for his failure to communicate the terms to which he had agreed for the fight - but objecting to Big Paul's alleged poisoning as a tactic. Isaac seems to be making headway in asserting that Big Paul's condition was the result of his own decisions, as no one forced him to consume such a quantity of food.
Leah, however, clocks the situation, and expresses heartfelt disappointment in Harisa - which triggers a flashback to her youth, when her father expresses similar disappointment in her. In this flashback, she is sent to her room, where she seeks comfort with her little lizard doll named Mr. Spinx. A conversation between Harisa and her grandmother, "Granny" Rossa, reveals that she had encountered a group of strangers while playing with her friends in the desert, and at their request had directed them to water - to the well in her village, despite the rule that strangers must not be told where to find their village. Snippets of conversation between her parents indicates that her decision has created significant concern about being found by "the sentinels." During this reverie, Harisa finds herself absently rubbing a black button that she wears on a cord around her neck.
Isaac and Sherwood conclude their negotiations, including care for Willy (the injured Minehead Boy) and the provision of the millstone. Guard questions why Big Paul wouldn't have said he needed a moment when Guard asked, despite being aware that he felt unwell, and Big Paul sheepishly admits that it was hubris; June takes the opportunity to pat Big Paul on the back and express her condolences for the misfortune he suffered, attaching a "My Best Friends Are The Trees" sign to his back in the process.
Isaac holds a townhall meeting, admitting that the town is in a tough spot - the pigsty is damaged, rations are running low, and a double shipment of resin is expected this season - and promising the townsfolk greater involvement in decisions going forward. Harisa chimes in with encouragement, telling Isaac that she considers him the best employer she's ever had. Maurice interrupts the sentimental moment with a coughing fit and some more pragmatic points, directing the focus of the meeting back toward next steps: the current millstone, though on its very last leg, can begin processing the bit of raw elderwood that they have on hand, and a logging expedition needs to go out into the woods to seek another elderwood copse to harvest.
Isaac agrees, but also announces that he wants Rally to begin seeking out another way of life: producing resin is not sustainable, as they are harvesting the trees faster than they can re-grow. Isaac puts June in charge of the initiative to revolutionize how Rally sustains itself. June builds on Isaac's point by elaborating on how the town's current way of operating upsets the wider natural balance, and Isaac remembers a conversation with her parents long ago - Kataryn arguing that change was needed, and Isaac swaying Dale that change wasn't possible and Rally's only chance at survival lay with resin production. Kataryn reminds them that they are both wanted by the Empressar for murder, and all that lays between them and ruin is the Empressar happening to discover who is running Rally. Dale concedes that he'll consider diversification if Kataryn can come up with how to do it, but until then they must continue as they have been.
Guard invites Harisa away for a private word as the meeting ends, expressing concern about Harisa as he reminds her that Isaac is not her employer, as she had said - they both work for the Empire, and their mission here is not to ensure Rally survives - it is to ensure that Rally produces. If this plot to change Rally's business model continues, Guard says, he may have to put a stop to it. Harisa responds noncommittally, indicating that she finds Guard's position honorable, but stopping short of agreement.
In the days that follow, preparations are made for the logging expedition: Isaac retrieves Dale's old shield, emblazoned with the crest of Agravar, from storage. June receives bug balm and a book about the Western Wealds from Oz, and we learn that June's experience with the geckos is unique - even the Broadbeams, who have lived in the Western Wealds all their lives, haven't seen them. June also takes some time to look through her parents' belongings, finding a woolen scarf that belonged to her father - and a note that her mother had left him:
Dale, you son of a bitch.
I love you so damn much. But I told you how it was going to end. I hope this helps.
X
Kataryn
Harisa distributes a flare each to Martin and Bennie to set off in the event of an emergency while the expedition are out of town, and sends Elmira to Big Paul with a note saying "no hard feelings" and the gold he would have won in their bet over the eating contest. Elmira delivers back a (very smooshed from being in a pocket) daisy, indicating Big Paul had asked her to give it to Harisa.
By the time the expedition is ready to leave, Willy has begun to regain consciousness under Oz's care, the production of the new millstone is well underway and is expected to be complete by the time they return, and general rebuilding of the town is progressing well.
That very morning, however, as they emerge from the gate, they are met with a messenger from the High Scepter. The letter reads:
I do not write on behalf of the Empressar. Instead, I write as Their Highness' envoy in this matter.
It is my responsibility to ensure that the Empire is provided with the resin that it needs for its defenses. It has come to my attention that Rally is choosing to explore alternatives to the production of elderwood resin. I would appreciate it if you could confirm or deny this fact to the messenger sent. He has been instructed to wait.
I remind you of the danger that you might be putting yourself in if the Empressar was to learn of certain indiscretions in your past.
Sincerely,
High Scepter
Isaac tells the messenger to convey to the High Scepter that they are setting out this very day to ensure that everything the Empressar needs is given to them.